“Hugh?” Lisa stuck her head in the dressing room, hoping to catch him. Emancipation had just started filming, and her lack of scenes had được trao her the opportunity to take a break, fly to New York, see some friends. Now she was back, and there was only one other friend she wanted to see. Unfortunately, Jim Hayman found her first.
    “Lisa, there bạn are. Come on, let’s get this done and bạn can go back to your vacation. Clinic set, come on.”
    “Ok—ok, I’m coming.” She gave one last look inside, knowing full well that Hugh had to be on set already, and followed Jim down the hall.
    An giờ hoặc so later, she twisted her neck back and forth and set her pen down on the counter, looking around to see how things were going. Staying in the same spot for so long was starting to wear on her back, but it looked like Hugh and Robert needed a few thêm runs before they could di chuyển on and she could go home. Tapping the pen against her leg, she watched them through the set’s glass doors and shifted her weight, while Hugh mimed weight lifting with his knapsack as a chuông hư, dumbbell and Robert faked astonishment at the size of Hugh’s bicep.
    “Lisa, darling, do bạn think bạn could possibly manage to hold still?” Hugh and Robert both looked up at her and she flushed, immediately looking down again at the folder she was holding. “That’s it, just stand still and look gorgeous, that’s all we need from you… Hugh, want to try again?”
    After the scene, Hugh came up to her on her way out, swinging his backpack back and forth as he walked. “Hey, bạn ok? Seemed kind of jittery for a while there. Maybe a vacation would be a good thing.”
    “When’s the last time you had a vacation?” Lisa shot back, looking up at him. “If bạn don’t need a break after working this many 16-hour days in a row, I certainly shouldn’t.”
    “Well. If it’s not that bạn need a vacation… what’s going on?”
    Lisa looked off to the side, not wanting to meet his gaze. Should she say something to him about the little conversation she’s been having with herself over and over since the last episode? Should she just pretend nothing was wrong and get over it bởi herself? It was only a crush, she decided. Nothing to bother him over. It would just be embarrassing.
    “Nothing’s going on,” she said, fixing him with a bright smile as she moved away. “I’ll see bạn in a few days.”
~*~*~
    It was less than a few days. It was the tiếp theo day. Lisa knocked on Hugh’s trailer door with a knot in her stomach. It was understood, for the most part, that Hugh’s trailer was off-limits—partially the result of his very well-known wish for privacy, partially the result of a general uneasiness that permeated most of the cast and crew when it came to talking to him outside the parameters of the House, MD set. Robert was the only semi-regular visitor. For whatever reason, Lisa had not even been there thêm than a handful of times. But here she was.
    Hugh opened the door.
    “Lisa. Hi,” he said, moving aside. “Come on in.”
    “Hi, Hugh… sorry to bother bạn like this…”
    “It’s ok. I’m early.”
    That was an understatement. Hugh was always early—sometimes hours earlier than anyone else that was called the same day. Lisa looked him up and down appreciatively.
    “You always did look good in black,” she said, unable to help herself. Hugh’s eyes flickered momentarily as he processed the strange path the conversation was taking.
    “Black Luật sư đấu trí everyone,” he đã đưa ý kiến as she leaned back against a table. “But seriously, Lisa, what’s going on? Is everything ok?”
    “Yeah, I just—I just wanted to talk to you, I guess. If you’re busy, I can come back some other time, it’s really not that important—”
    “No—no, don’t do that.” Hugh stepped closer to her, reaching over to grab the bottle of water that was sitting on the bàn she was leaning against. “I thought something was bothering you. Just couldn’t think what it was. For a while I was worried that I had offended bạn when we were filming that—kiss, but after we talked the tiếp theo ngày I figured bạn were—”
    “God, no. No,” Lisa said, watching as he opened the bottle and tossed the mũ lưỡi trai, cap onto the table. “You could never offend me. I—we’re friends, Hugh, right? Well, I’d like to think we’re friends. I know we don’t see each other outside of work unless we’re at some kind of awards show, hoặc network function, hoặc fundraiser—”
    “Writer’s strike, picket line…”
    “So we see each other sometimes. But I just… I don’t know. I hope bạn know I consider bạn a friend. You’re really helped me a lot these last few years, and I want bạn to know that it means—” Hugh took a swig of water and Lisa’s eyes tracked every movement of his face, staring at the single droplet of water that clung to his bottom lip as he put the bottle back down. “It means a lot to me,” she finished, and realized that her right hand was reaching up of its own volition to cup his cheek and brush away the offending bit of moisture with her thumb.
    “It’s my pleasure,” Hugh đã đưa ý kiến roughly, staring at her. “Lisa—”
    “Hugh…” Lisa stroked his cheek softly before starting to pull her hand back. Hugh caught it as she pulled it away, lacing her fingers with his own. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
    “It’s ok.” Hugh gave her a crooked smile and leaned down to Kiss her cheek, but as soon as his lips touched her face they both froze. “Lisa…” Hugh đã đưa ý kiến again, barely moving away and resting his forehead against her temple. Lisa closed her eyes and leaned closer, her head on his shoulder. Hugh slowly put his free hand on her back before untangling their fingers and raising that hand to touch her face, making her look up at him. With only an inch of không gian between them, it was almost too easy for him to lean forward, and for Lisa to run her hand up his arm to the back of his neck and pull him even closer. Hugh hesitated just a một giây before their lips touched, then cradled the back of her head in his hand, holding her gently as their lips finally met—and then collided. Lisa gasped as Hugh pulled her even closer, almost lifting her off the ground, and she grabbed at his arm with her free hand to keep her balance. Then he was pushing her backwards until her hips banged into the bàn she’d been leaning against, and the tiếp theo thing she knew she was sitting on it, Hugh standing between her legs and running his hand down her back, then up again underneath her shirt, finally feeling her skin under his fingers. Lisa pulled herself right to the edge of the table, flush against his body as he started to lean into her, almost pushing her back—













    “God!” Lisa jerked herself out of a sound sleep, breathing raggedly. The alarm tiếp theo to her giường was going off directly in her ear. She fell back into her pillow, one hand stopping the alarm and the other pressing against her chest, trying to calm herself down. “Oh my God… I am in such trouble…”